The government are in the process on changing the way Apprenticeships are operated in England. They have put in place a process that requires employers to be active in preparing the new standards; it will not be left to the Sector Skills Councils as at present.
In the next few months, groups of employers will be tasked with producing new Standards which will be specific to their industry. This is in response to the Richard Report, sponsored by the government, which recommended more input from employers into the specification of apprentice requirements. As a result, the current apprentice frameworks will cease after 2017.
LEIA have been invited to join the Lift and Escalator Trailblazer Group to submit a bid to BIS to prepare new Apprenticeship Standards that reflect the requirements of our industry. The application was submitted before the deadline of July 31st.
We now await the response from BIS to advise of the next stage in the preparation of the new standards.